


in the dusk light

by Skullszeyes



Category: Naruto
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attraction, Best Friends, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Childhood Trauma, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forehead Kisses, Friendship, Gentle Kissing, Grinding, I'm Bad At Titles, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Male Slash, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Missions, Mutual Pining, Naruto is Just Naruto, Neck Kissing, Not Beta Read, One Shot, One-Sided Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Out of Character, POV Male Character, POV Uchiha Sasuke, Romance, Rough Kissing, Slash, Surprise Kissing, Time Skips, Touch-Starved, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, free writing, mention of masturbation, mention of sexual fantasies, not edited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 11:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30054612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: Naruto left two years ago on a mission, and Sasuke misses him so much that he goes looking for him.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	in the dusk light

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a month or two ago, and never finished it until now. So, yay, and enjoy please! :D
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I didn't edit this fic.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

Naruto rocked back and forth, whistling a soft song while Sasuke stood beside him. They were awaiting their turn to enter the Hokage's office. Sakura hadn’t joined them, and Sasuke told her it had nothing to do with her beforehand. She had given him an odd look which he had ignored. In truth, it really had nothing to do with her, and nothing to do with him either. He was there for Naruto who told him the Hokage wanted to speak to him.

“What do you think this is about?” Sasuke asked, glancing at him.

“A mission,” Naruto said, going still, “I requested one a few weeks ago, and I’m hoping I’ll get one.”

“Out of the country?” Sasuke inquired.

Naruto nodded. “Maybe a few weeks, at the latest.” He grinned and nudged Sasuke in the arm. “You’re not going to miss me, are you?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and scoffed, but his own smile pulled at the corners of his lips. “I don’t even think I’ll notice.” He was happy for Naruto, they were getting older, and requesting their own missions were going to become a thing. Sasuke had wanted to do the same. He wanted to leave Konoha for awhile, but right now, he wanted to see how Naruto will do.

“You’ll notice,” Naruto said, going back to rocking back and forth.

Sasuke said nothing else, because he knew Naruto was right. He would miss him if he went away for a few weeks. It would be boring without him. The village will be quieter without his presence, and Sasuke will simply request a few missions just to keep himself occupied.

“Your hair’s getting longer,” Naruto said, reaching out and touching the end of Sasuke’s hair.

Sasuke looked at where Naruto was touching, “I might cut it.”

“I think I might like it longer than your normal spikes,” Naruto said, letting go.

Sasuke touched the back of his hair, “You think?”

Naruto chuckled. “Don’t pout, Sasuke, it doesn’t look right.” He reached out and touched his cheek. “Are you blushing too?”

“Shut up.” Sasuke swatted his hand away. His face was slightly warm, and he had to look away just so Naruto wouldn’t see anything else on his face.

It wasn’t their last conversation before Naruto would leave, but it was one of them that Sasuke would think about over time. He was meant to be gone for a few months, then those months turned into years, and Sasuke hardly spoke to anyone.

He opened the letter he received from Naruto. One of many, and he’s been waiting for them to arrive, and sometimes they were the only thing he was able to really think about.

Sasuke had been eighteen, and now he was twenty. He had taken his own missions to ignore the heaviness in his chest. A small creature that scraped and claws inside, whispering of how lonesome he was.

When he opened the letter, he realized that he disliked waiting for them to come as if that was the only thing that mattered to him. Naruto was vague of his whereabouts and what he’s been doing, but his enthusiasm was written all over the paper which Sasuke had smiled at, then he folded and placed it somewhere safe for later alongside the other letters he had received from him.

Sasuke decided to confront the issue, and possibly get a mission somewhere close to Naruto. If it was possible. He was standing where he had been standing alongside Naruto all those years ago, and for some reason, Sakura had appeared. She was humming softly, rocking back and forth on her feet with her hands behind her back. She has an odd pattern of showing up when she shouldn’t bother.

“What do you want?” he asked, shoulders slumping, and letting himself lean against the wall with his hands tucked inside his pockets.

She leaned forward, a smile on her lips. She smelled like bubblegum. “You grew your hair out...it’s much more flat, and less spiky.”

Sasuke hadn’t really noticed the change, or maybe it was gradual over the years. He stopped caring all that much until a year ago. “Is there something you wanted?” There was no point in being rude, but he has always been straight up, and that included when others obviously had an ulterior motive which Sakura did.

Her cheeks had a slight flush to them as she moved back and forth, but somehow was getting closer. “I’m wondering if you’re going to ask for a new mission. I mean, Naruto isn’t around anymore, and we usually get our updates from Kakashi…”

Sasuke had spoken to Kakashi the other day about his motives. He wanted to be open to him about the issues on his mind, and Kakashi allowed Sasuke the freedom to do what he wanted. It’s not like they were teenagers anymore.

“You really miss him, don’t you?” Kakashi asked, then he waved a hand at Sasuke and walked off.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, not bothering to deny the words. At least there was no trouble with how he was going about this. Now, he had to get rid of Sakura before he spoke to the Hokage.

“I want a mission outside of the village,” Sasuke said, hoping he didn’t sound too melancholy. Everything in the two year has been static, and he has tried over and over to find some kind of relief.

Sakura blinked, her smile fading from her pink mouth. “Out...of the village?” Her brows furrowed, her gaze faltered away from him before returning, and the shock and realization mixed together in understanding. “Naruto...so you do…”

Her words barely left when the door to the Hokage’s office opened, and he was called in. Sasuke didn’t look back at Sakura who was left in the hall, and he stepped inside the room.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk. He was reading a few papers before glancing up at Sasuke. Oddly, the Hokage always had an indifferent expression on his face, but Sasuke recalled when he was younger, the Hokage was a bit more friendlier. Age must really set in, colliding all the emotions together into a grey mass. Impossibly dull over time, and Sasuke sometimes can feel it in himself whenever he’s left alone for too long.

Sasuke stands straight and bows, then he’s talking to the Hokage about what he wants. He doesn’t say Naruto’s name, but he might as well have, his name and smile laced throughout the conversation, and Sasuke’s heart is difficult to ignore when its pounding against his chest.

When he leaves the room, Sakura is still standing outside, but this time she isn’t as eager as she had been earlier.

Sasuke is holding a paper that the Hokage had given him. His signature is at the bottom, and he would have to rip a portion of it to keep it on him in case anyone would say otherwise about the nature of said mission. At least he didn’t have to stay in Konoha for long.

“Are you going after him?” Sakura asked once Sasuke walked by, and she was keeping up with his pace.

“No,” he answered, the lie smooth in his voice, but Sakura scoffed.

“Don’t lie, I know you, Sasuke...you might not want me to know you, but I do,” Sakura said, her voice careful with the way she handled herself, before Sasuke used to get headaches when Sakura would raise her voice. She liked to use her rage against Naruto, and others who annoyed her, and Sasuke would try his hardest to stay away from that rage. He didn’t want her voice echoing inside his head, not the way Naruto’s does everyday since he left.

“I have a mission to do, and I might not come back for a few weeks,” Sasuke said, recalling Naruto’s words, all happy and eager for what the world will give, but Sasuke isn’t as eager, not for the world at least. “Don’t worry about me, Sakura.”

She smiled, an empty look, odd for someone like her. “It’s not reassuring, but I hope you find him, and that the two of you come back. If a year goes by, and I end up finding you two living in some cottage, then I’ll kick both of your asses.”

Sasuke hid the smile from her as he left the building. At least she was in high spirits, and that she understood.

He returned home, took a shower, changed his clothes, then began packing away everything he needed for his mission. He didn’t get much from the Hokage when he spoke to him, even if what Sasuke wanted was plain as day. The information itself came from Kakashi. He had told him where Naruto was first stationed, and what he was doing, and how long the mission would go on for. Another few months as he hung around several villages, waiting for his moment to return with the details of a few assassinations. He had someone with him that could pass on the information, but Naruto has been oddly patient and quiet for sometime.

Sasuke’s mission wasn’t as difficult nor as patient. All he had to do was do an escort job, including blending in with a few Shinobi from a town close to where Naruto was stationed.

Of course, once Sasuke was finished with the escort job, and relaying the information back to a handler, then all Sasuke wanted to do was locate where Naruto was. It shouldn’t take too long. He was quite noticeable, which also made sense why Naruto couldn’t handle certain missions that needed him to blend in. He liked when others knew he was there.

“This should be easy,” Sasuke said. He assured himself of this when he left Konoha a few hours later. The days went by smoothly, although Sasuke’s thoughts had been static when he met the escort. It was a child and their older sister. The woman was interested in knowing a few things about Sasuke who had to lie to her about certain subjects, even when a bounty hunter ended up coming after the two. The family itself wasn’t doing too good, so the two kids had to get out of their small village and meet up with some family members.

It was easy.

At least until the two ended up traumatized by Sasuke’s brutal strategies to kill the hunters. They eventually thanked him for the recklessness a week after.

“Why is everything full of static?” Sasuke whispered, holding some kind walkie-talkie after speaking to a handler of his about the next mission he was heading toward.

“This is all smooth sailing, Sasuke,” his handler said from within the walkie-talkie.

Sasuke nodded slowly as he stood on a rooftop in a separate town. The night was long, and the wind was cold against his face. He was lying on his stomach with binoculars in his hand, the other holding the walkie-talkie. He was waiting out for a target that two other Shinobi would approach either if they were going to attack him or kidnap him, what he needed the most was a few numbers and names, then the mission itself will be easy.

“Seriously, why couldn’t Naruto take these kinds of missions?” he asked himself as he peered into the binoculars. Naruto had been gone for far too long, and even the missions that Sasuke took to ignore the thought of his best friend’s presence forever stagnating was becoming a nuisance. He hadn’t really come to terms on why he felt this way and nor did he want too. Not yet. Not when he was lying on his stomach, watching people enter and exit a bar, either moving in a correct motion with smiles on their faces, or staggering out with mussed hair and glazed eyes.

Everything looked wrong.

Why?

A day or two later, Sasuke was standing outside of the town, foot moving, writing down on a piece of paper of what his handler was telling him about the mission. He’ll send it all back to Kakashi, then he’ll give it to the Hokage. At least they’ll know that Sasuke was finished and he was coming back. It hasn’t even been two weeks.

“Alright, it was nice working with you,” the handler said.

Sasuke said his goodbyes and placed the walkie-talkie down. He would take it to a building and set it inside a mailbox. After that, Sasuke would gather everything from his temporary apartment and walk back to Konoha to report on everything the handler hadn’t told Kakashi. Then he’d be marked down for a few mission ranks, and that would be it.

It wasn’t enough, not for Sasuke.

He let out a breath, then started his hunt for Naruto. He gained a bit of money while out of Konoha, so he was able to eat and pay for a room at an inn. Thanks to the situation he was no longer in, he could move without thinking about anyone else.

Naruto. Naruto. Naruto. That’s all he was able to think about, and now he was moving, actually doing something instead of staring at a picture of Naruto he had brought with him. He mused on the photo, smiling at Naruto’s happiness radiating off of it.

This shouldn’t take long. At least he hoped.

Two villages away from the current one he was in had taken about a day or two to get through. He even looked around for anything that could tell him if Naruto had gone through the village, but apparently he hadn’t. When he drew close to the one that Naruto would be in, he started for the ramen shops, took out the photo, and showed the people behind the stalls if they had seen him.

By the time evening came around, Sasuke was eating a bowl of ramen and frowning at the setting sun on the horizon. It was all beautiful orange and blue, a bit of yellow.

He pressed a hand against his face, rubbing a finger on his bottom lip, trying his best to stop himself from pouting.

“Where are you?” he asked. He bought a room at an inn, locked the doors, set his things down beside the bed and laid down. The room was dark and cold, but that was all Sasuke could feel. The same kind of loneliness that was surrounding him and seeping into his chest, reminding him of nights when he was young without a family to speak too. He squeezed his eyes closed, and Naruto’s face appeared in his head.

Sasuke groaned, turning over onto the bed and trying his hardest to get him out of his head, but what was the point, he was the reason for everything, and now Sasuke was stuck inside a room on his own, thinking about Naruto way too much that it was exhausting.

“Why did you have to leave?” he asked, squeezing his eyes closed. Naruto was always warm, he breathed life in a room, he made things like bad thoughts and terrible people fade away as if they never really existed. Naruto was almost like an anomaly in Sasuke’s life. He managed to do things that no one was able to do.

With the emptiness, what was Sasuke supposed to do?

He curled, fingers squeezed the blanket, but the pain in his chest wouldn’t fade. His heart was racing too much, his breath coming out in heavy pants, and his head was squeezing. He gasped Naruto’s name, and crawled off the bed and onto the floor. He didn’t feel grounded, he was weak and alone and tired.

“Naruto...why did you leave?” Sasuke whispered, breathing heavily as he tried to hold on.

* * *

When he had left, Naruto had raced to his house beforehand, and he knocked on the door until Sasuke had opened it. The thing about Sasuke’s feelings, even how intense they were, he locked them away until that day, and it changed everything about Sasuke’s understanding, even if he wanted more.

“I’m leaving,” Naruto panted, a bright smile on his lips, his eyes were practically sparkling at Sasuke who stood in the doorway, unable to smile or frown or say something nonchalant.

He swallowed thickly at Naruto’s words, at what it meant. “Right now?” he asked, knowing that Naruto was leaving right away, because of Naruto’s clothes and the bag on his back. He was leaving, and he had come running to Sasuke.

“I wanted to say goodbye, and that I’ll be back, I promise,” Naruto said, his excitement waning only slightly, but he was still smiling, still oh so excited for what was before him on the road.

Sasuke’s heart caved in, but he couldn’t seem to say much else besides stare at Naruto, hoping that it wasn’t completely true.

He knew Naruto was leaving for much longer than a few weeks. He explained the mission itself. There were enemies out there in different villages, and Naruto was meant to scout them out. He had people to speak too throughout the mission, and because of how vast it was, Sasuke knew right away and he couldn’t say anything because it was what Naruto wanted.

Naruto's smile faltered, his gaze almost falling, then he let out a sigh, “You’ll miss me, right, Sasuke?”

His breath stuttered at his words, as if they were meant to be mocking but weren’t. They were true enough, sincere in everything that Naruto wanted to know.

Sasuke opened his mouth, and even though he didn’t know what to say, his mouth was covered by Naruto’s. He had brought Sasuke close to him, practically holding him tightly as if he was trying to melt their bodies together. His hands were pressed to Sasuke’s back and along his sides, and his lips were cold from the night, but soft, while his tongue licked at Sasuke’s.

“I’ll miss you,” Naruto gasped when he pulled back, eyes wet with tears. “I’ll write to you, only to you...maybe Iruka and Kakashi...and Sakura too.” Then he leaned in close and kissed Sasuke again. The kiss was demanding, and he was even pressing his fingers roughly against Sasuke’s waist until he felt the skin underneath his shirt, his hands splayed along his ribs, feeling as much as he could.

Sasuke’s mind was hazy, and a moan was pulled from his throat as he held onto Naruto, wanting desperately to pull him into his apartment, close the door, and find his bed so they can spend the night together.

“Don’t go,” Sasuke whimpered when they pulled back.

“I’ll be back, I promise,” Naruto kissed him, “I promise,” again, and again, “I promise.” Then he was pulling away from Sasuke. “I’ll be back, so don’t worry, okay.” His smile was so bright, and his eyes were actually sparkling this time thanks to the tears, and then he was gone.

Sasuke panted, heart beating painfully, then he fell to his knees thanks to the actual passion racing throughout his entire body. He bit his lip, unable to get the thought of Naruto’s kiss out of his mind, the way his tongue had tangled with his, and sent a lovely shiver up his spine that had Sasuke wanting desperately to keep him.

* * *

Sasuke woke up the next day on the floor of the inn. He had paid only for one night, and went on his way looking for Naruto. He took his time, wondering where he could be, and hoping Naruto wasn’t hurt. He was oddly lucky for someone who got into a lot of trouble when they were kids.

He tried not to worry too much, even as he left the town and headed off to another. A few days went by, and his search continued, and even as he spent days in a few inns, or he slept outside in some woods, his mind was solely on Naruto.

It wasn’t until his search was coming to end simply when he showed Naruto’s photo to another man behind a ramen stall. He hummed, placing a hand on his jaw, inspecting the photo with interest.

“I’ve seen him.”

Sasuke’s brows arched. “Really?”

“Yes, I have,” the man said. “Buy another bowl and I’ll tell you all about him.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but he sat down and bought another bowl of ramen. The man did tell him that Naruto had taken the same seat that Sasuke was sitting on, and had spent a lot of money on his ramen. There were a few others with him, and they were having some fun until they disappeared. He hadn’t seen him since, and this was about a week and a half ago.

“Did they say anything about where they were going?” Sasuke asked. A week and a half ago? If anything, he could be long gone, and that could ruin Sasuke’s chances of getting anywhere.

The man didn’t know much, but Naruto had been around for some time. He had seen him more than once, and even as a week went by, he had come back for his ramen. So that meant that even if Naruto wandered off, he would eventually return.

His pent up yearning was getting the best of him when he spent some money on another inn. He was lying on the bed, eyes barely closed as he stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t fully committed to the fact that he wanted Naruto more, but that day when he left, it was there, a flame kindling in his stomach.

He wanted more, so much more that it was selfish.

Sasuke gritted his teeth at the image of Naruto in his mind. The small fantasies of having Naruto taking off his shirt, holding Sasuke tightly, his hands pressed to Sasuke’s skin like when he had left. It was all so warm and intense, but if he had gone too far, Sasuke would end up gasping, maybe even hard in his pants.

“This is embarrassing,” he says to no one in particular.

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sigh as he sat up. Throughout his life, he had hated and hated until that hate had become a stuttered mess of uncertainty in the face of his best friend, and then it tumbled out from the darkness when Naruto had pressed a demanding kiss to his lips, promising he would come back.

_ When _ was the better question, and Sasuke should’ve asked, except he hadn’t when he was on the floor, whimpering to himself, unable to get Naruto out of his head, and now he was chasing after him as if he was starving.

Sasuke swallowed thickly at what he was understanding. He rubbed his arms. He  _ was _ starving. He hadn’t kissed anyone since Naruto left, he didn’t desire anyone to touch him until Naruto had, and now...now he was starving to be touched by Naruto, and that was the reason why he decided to leave, because two years had passed, and Naruto’s letters weren’t enough anymore.

_ Sasuke. _

_ The mission is almost over. When I come back to Konoha, we’ll go out for ramen, maybe sake, with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Sakura. We’ll even invite Iruka and Kakashi. It’ll be fun. Maybe after, we can spend more time together, but I’ll elaborate on that when I get back. I can’t wait to see you, I hope you missed me as much as I missed you. :) _

_ Naruto. _

Sasuke bit his lower lip at the letter he had brought with him. He almost wanted to burn it.

Missing you is an understatement. Sasuke ends up gnawing on those thoughts until sleep pulls him under. A day or two later, Sasuke is still in the town, hoping he was right that Naruto would return. However, he might have to head back to Konoha soon, then maybe request another mission.

He gathered his things in a bag and opened the door to his room, but right before he was about to leave, he found himself staring into big blue eyes.

Sasuke’s breath hitched at the sight of Naruto standing before him. He’s wearing some kind of dark cloak, there’s a bit of dirt on his face, including a leaf and some twigs in his hair. He has the smell of earth and iron, but other than that, it was Naruto…

“You are here,” Naruto said, taking a step into the room once Sasuke moved back, then the door closed behind him. “Why are you here?”

Sasuke stared, unsure if he was dreaming. There’s a small part of him that’s embarrassed that he had come simply because he was  _ starving,  _ and another part annoyed that Naruto was asking with a dumb look on his face.

“I...missed you,” Sasuke said, as if that was meant to clear up everything.

Naruto stared for far too long, then he let out a laugh, his face flushed, and his eyes sparkled. “You missed me, you...Sasuke, missed me.” He’s laughing, but there’s something else there, as if he can’t fully breathe, then he’s taking a step closer, and Sasuke doesn’t stop him when Naruto wrapped his arms around him, breath on his ear. “I missed you too.”

It was difficult to suppress the shiver, but it wasn’t as bad, not when he explained to Naruto what he had done, and why he was in the town in the first place. Naruto was sitting on the bed, nodding to him with complete understanding.

Now that Sasuke was looking at him, Naruto also had blood on his clothes, shoes, and splatters on his neck and along his wrists. His hands were covered with black gloves that had a bit of crust on them that seemed to be from wet mud that dried over time.

“I can’t tell you everything about the mission,” Naruto said, glancing around the room, “but I was telling you the truth, I was coming back pretty soon, maybe by the end of the month.”

Sasuke nodded, certain he could have waited, but at the time, he didn’t want to. Not like it mattered, things were different, and Naruto was sitting before him with a smile on his face.

“So, you missed me,” Naruto said, his gaze falling upon Sasuke who glanced away before letting out a sigh.

“Why did you have to be gone for so long?” he asked him. He ignored the whine in his voice, the uncontrolled annoyance laced in his words, and how much he hated how his skin burned in Naruto’s presence.

“I told you about the mission,” said Naruto, moving closer to the edge, then made a motion with his finger at Sasuke, it was simple enough with no eagerness. Sasuke moved closer, and Naruto wrapped his arms around his waist, and Naruto sighed as he leaned his head against Sasuke. “I missed you though, I’m happy you’re here...although I would’ve been happier if you stayed in the village.”

Sasuke tentatively ran his fingers through Naruto’s hair. “I couldn’t help it…” Even now, he can’t, his heart is thudding too loudly, and he’s sure this must be a dream of some kind, or wishful thinking. Naruto can’t be here, all beautiful and bright, and if he is real...then what are they doing exactly?

He had time to think about it, moments to imagine it, and Sasuke demanded the hunger to rise, and he shoved Naruto down on the bed and crawled on top of him, glaring at Naruto’s smug grin.

“Why are you covered in dirt and blood?” Sasuke asked, then he kissed Naruto, tugging at Naruto’s hair simply to feel how much Naruto needed a damn shower.

Naruto was laughing, barely kissing Sasuke who needed to feel his lips on him, “When I found out...I went looking for you...I knew you would ask around at a few ramen shops…” Naruto placed his hands on Sasuke’s waist, then began pushing his shirt up, touching Sasuke’s bare skin.

It felt so good, and Sasuke’s face is flushed, and he’s sensitive with Naruto’s hands on his waist, along his ribs and abdomen, and he’s even properly kissing him now. All needy and insistent, a want that sings between them, completely inseparable and sensitive.

Sasuke moaned, even when he dragged his hips down, trying to find friction, and then he groaned as Naruto pushed himself up, gripping Sasuke tightly as if he was afraid Sasuke might fall off.

“Can’t…” Naruto panted, “not now...I can’t, I’m still on the mission, I have to report back to my handler, I need to get a hold of them by tonight. There’s Shinobi here that are waiting for me.” He groaned when Sasuke grinded against him again, his lips on Naruto’s neck, nipping and sucking, although he really just wants to bite down.

“Stay, stay, stay,” he murmured once he made a mark, and was not fully satisfied by the simple redness that’s on Naruto’s skin. He wants to do so much more, to make his skin a bitter red and purple blotches. He wants Naruto to say his name, and keep his hands on him, and never really let go.

Not what was currently happening now.

“You have to go back,” Naruto said, slipping Sasuke onto the bed. “I still have a mission to do.”

Sasuke is gritting his teeth, but he has little to say. He knows Naruto has obligations, and it’s not like Naruto is going to stop simply because Sasuke is there. This is mostly a break, and Sasuke can’t handle how short their time is.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Naruto said as he stood up and smiled sheepishly at Sasuke. He leaned down, and right when Sasuke was about to move back, he gripped his shirt tight and Naruto dragged him close, “You can wait a little longer, can’t you?” He kissed him again, much softer, as if he were a dream.

And he even leaves like one.

Sasuke frowned at the door, at the silence on the other side, and now the heat is trapped in his body with nowhere to go. He doesn’t jerk off, like he had done in the past whenever he thought too much about Naruto. He finds no...pleasure in doing that besides the small shame of needing Naruto than his own hand.

Sasuke covered his face and almost wanted to scream, but he was able to have him for a moment, to feel his warmth and enjoy his smile.

It takes him about half an hour to get his shit together, and by that time, Sasuke is gathering everything he needs and heads out of town. He doesn’t have to look anywhere, he doesn’t sense Naruto’s chakra all that much. A few years had given Naruto enough practice to hide it, and even though there are times when Sasuke can sense it, this wasn’t one of those times.

If he promises to come back and actually continue what they’ve been doing, and maybe actually have a conversation about it, then maybe Sasuke can ignore the ache in his chest.

When he returned to Konoha, he spoke to the Hokage, then later on, he even had a talk with Sakura.

“He’s okay?” she asked, staring at him as they both sat on a bench during the evening. The orange sunlight streaming low through the branches as nightfall barely overtakes the day.

“Better than usual,” said Sasuke.

“And he didn’t come back with you?” She seemed a little stunned by this.

Sasuke shrugged. “He’s not done the mission yet.”

He goes home, unpacks everything from his bag, he even takes a shower and afterwards...he reads all of Naruto’s letters to him. By the time he falls asleep, it’s as if the days go by quickly.

Naruto comes back, he brightens the dull life of Konoha, making everyone smile and laugh as if he never left. It’s almost frightening his impact is on everyone, and Sasuke is waiting, and he can be patient enough for his smile. Even as Naruto hugged Kakashi, Sakura, then Sasuke, his words small and filtered out, and the night dragged on with ramen, sake, and other assorted things that Shikamaru and Choji have planned for him.

“Are you still waiting?” Naruto asked, face flushed with alcohol and the night time warmth. He pressed Sasuke against the wall, his mouth near his ear, and even sighed as if his entire body had been holding itself up until he has his arms wrapped around Sasuke.

“I will be…for awhile,” Sasuke said.

Naruto nodded, “Oh, I know...I shouldn’t have made you wait that long.” He has a hand on Sasuke’s nape, then he’s running his fingers through his hair, and that’s all he really does. His focus is on Sasuke, whispering to him in the dark, and when everyone leaves and Sasuke takes him back to his apartment to dispose of him on the bed.

Sasuke poked him in the cheek as Naruto smiled at the ceiling. “Don’t cut your hair,” he said, liking the longer blonde spikes.

Naruto turned, reaching for Sasuke. “Don’t cut yours.”

Sasuke climbed onto the bed and laid down beside him. The window is cracked open, and Naruto’s breath barely smells of sake anymore. Sasuke had him drink a lot of water before bed.

“I love you,” Sasuke whispered, wrapping an arm around Naruto and squeezing his eyes closed at those simple yet sensitive words that had him flustered for so long, and he tried to keep it behind a locked door inside his head like every other pain he had felt before. This kind of pain was way too exposing, and it allowed Naruto to hurt him if he so wished.

Naruto hummed, turning on his side and leaning close until their noses touched. “I love you too, Sasuke. Don’t ever leave.”

Sasuke smiled, pressing a slow kiss to Naruto’s mouth, “I might...for two years.”

Naruto groaned. “Oh come on, please don’t tell me you’re going to hang that over my head.”

“Don’t leave me then,” Sasuke said, curling his fingers into Naruto’s shirt. “Don’t leave...don’t leave…” The ache returned, almost dull, but now sharp enough to cut more wounds in him.

“I won’t,” Naruto whispered against his lips as he kissed him again. “I won’t, just...be here when I wake up, Sasuke, okay, promise me.”

Sasuke smiled, running his fingers through Naruto’s hair again, “I promise, if you promise not to leave me again.”

Naruto leaned closer and held Sasuke against his chest, “I promise, I promise, Sasuke, I love you so much, I missed you, thought about you…” Sleep was slowly dragging him away, and his words became all rough and quiet.

Sasuke continued to run his fingers through Naruto’s hair, and with him in his arms, actually touching Naruto, he could feel the pain recede only slightly, and maybe one day, it’ll fade. “I promise, I’ll be here,” he kissed him on the forehead, “I missed you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tbh, I didn't know how to end this fic. I wanted something fluffy since I suck at writing romance or any kind of smut. Maybe some other time. :) I really like the mutual pining though, and that Sasuke just wants to see Naruto, and it might be a touch-starved thing going on, but they care a lot about each other. I might write another NaruSasu fic.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.


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